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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS A. sHEAD, OF ALAMEDA, cAL., AND RADLEY F. FAIRFIELD, oF wEsr MEDFORD, MASS., ASsIeNoRs To GORDON MCKAY, TRUSTEE. A

ORE-SEPARATO R.

y SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettere Patent`No,296,o75, datea'nprii i, 1884.

Application led May 22, 1883. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it concern:

Be it known that we, LOUIS A. SHEAD, of

Alameda, county of Alameda, State of Califor-` nia, and HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD, of West Medford, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Ore- Separators, of which the following description,

in connection with `the accompanying drawing the bottom of thesluice, the said plates in its bottom, substantially as describedin a joint application led by us May 10,1883, Serial No. 911, 521, in which the operation ofthe said slits is fully explained. Inthe said application the said slits were shown as formed between the edges of movable plates constitutbeing made movable for the purpose of dis-` lodging particles that become wedged therein, and thus keeping the slits clean. In thepresent inventionthe portion of the bottom provided with the slits has'no movement for the purpose of clearing the slits.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is t j a partial longitudinalsection of a portion of an ore-separating apparatus embodying this invention, and Fig. 2 a transverse section thereof. I

. The sluice a has its bottom b provided with narrow transverse slits 2,0perating to separate the differentmaterials in the manner described in our former application referred to, the

heavier materials dropping down through the said slits into a receiving-chamber, C, under the bottom of the sluice. In order to prevent the slits from being clogged by particles too large to pass through becoming wedged therein, the apparatus is provided with clearing devices d, placed between the edges of the plates forming the bottom b of the sluice, and extending up into the said slits 2, the sides of the said clearing devices cl being inclined, as shown at 3 Fig. 2,l so that when they are moved longitudinally along the slitsthe said edges 3, engaging the under sides of particles lodged in the said slits, will raise the said particles up from the said slits, thereby detaching them andforcing them back in the direction from which they entered without pro-` ducing any pressure or abrasive action between the particles and the side of the slit.

The clearing devices d are hereinshown as mounted on cross-heads e, which are carried through the sluice, or by any other suitable motor. By placing the said clearing devices and their actuating mechanism below the bottom b of the sluice,it will be seen that they do not obstruct the flow of the stream in the said sluice, and do not interfere with the process of separation going on at the slits, as would be the case if they passed down into the slits from above the bottom of the sluice; and the said devices, furthermore, are themselves protected from the action of the stream and the rocks and other material carried by it.

We do not herein broadly claim a sluice having a transverse slit through` its bottom, combined with a clearing device below the said slit, and supporting and operating mechanism for the said clearing device outside of and removed from the action of the stream passing through the sluice, the said clearing device acting on substantially the whole length of the slit; or the combination of the sluice having a transverse slit through its bottom with a clearing device and means to move 4the said clearing device longitudinally in the said slit, the said clearing device having inclined edges, whereby the particles are lifted out of the said slits, the same forming the subjectmatterV of another application led by us December 17, 1833, and having Serial NoA 114, 782.

We claim- 1. TheV combination, with a sluice having a transverse slit through its bottom, of thehorizontally-movable clearing device and support therefor, arranged wholly below the bottom of the sluice, and means to operate the clearing device in the slit, whereby the regularity of the stream remains undisturbed, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a sluice having a transverse slit through its bottom, of the clearing device having inclined edges movable 1ongitudinally in the said slit, the support for said clearing device, arranged wholly below the bottom of the sluice, and means to operate the said clearing device, whereby intruding particles are lifted out of the slits and the action of the stream left undisturbed.

LOUIS A. SHEAD. HADLEY P. FAIRFIELD.

'Vitnesses to signature of Louis A. Shead:

KATE M. SMITH, N. W. PALMER.

Witnesses to signature of HQ P. Fairfield:

Jos. P. LIVERMORE, G. W. GREGORY. 

